Past Student Work Analysis and Marking!

The Candidate.

 In this past student example, it is shows that it is a opening sequence by the use of the opening credits placed over the action happening on screen. It also doesn't give a lot of information about the actual storyline leaving an Enigma at the end, making the audience curious and asking questions about the main character, Who's blood was he washing blood off his hands? What was making him rush getting ready? It makes the audience intrigued to find out what will happen next.

Camerawork-

Many close up shots were used throughout the whole opening sequence, which could show the attention to detail that the man could be taking after he may or may not have committed a murder, showing how he is covering it up thoroughly, this could indicate that it is a crime thriller. Other close ups are used on his face especially when he realises someone else is in the house, this shows his urgency for getting ready quickly. There was an over-shoulder shot at the beginning which establishes the location of being in the bathroom as through the mirror you can see a shower, toothbrushes etc. it also shows the man cleaning himself up including his face again indicating he is covering up a murder of some short. There is also an over the shoulder shot when the man is getting dressed and is sorting out his tie in the mirror, this could show the urgency of how fast he is of getting ready but also, again, his attention to detail by checking his tie and making sure he looks OK, it also makes the audience question why he is so worried if he looks OK? Which could link to how it is a crime thriller!

Editing-

The clip starts with a black screen with only sound clips placed over the top, this instantly puts the audience on edge as it makes them think they are waiting for something bad to happen.Throughout the whole sequence the shots are mostly short shot duration, it cuts from shot to shot fairly quickly and most of the shots are close up, which could be the attention to detail. However when the music gets faster and the man realises someone else is in the house the shots become even shorter which shows the urgency of the man, however there is the occasional long shot duration even after the pace picks up which could indicate that he is not that bothered about being caught, making the audience assume he might be guilty of something- a murder. When the pace started to pick up the close-up shots of the man getting ready were sped up to appear as if the man is getting ready faster than normal, this is just a technique to keep the pace of the clip fast and in time with the music.

Sound-

At the beginning of the opening sequence, on the blank black screen, we hear the sound of gun shots which is diagetic as it then links into the clip as it goes straight to a man washing blood off his hands. From then all of the background music is non-diagetic and is used to set the mood. Very eery and sombre music is used to set the atmosphere of what the man has done to be washing blood of his hands, enigmas are used throughout this whole sequence. At 0:28 in the clip, a different track has obviously been layed over top of the original one which added some more pace to the clip as it was fairly slow to begin with this same track carries on until 1:19 when the sound of a door opening is introduced, it is diagetic as the man onscreen hears it and starts the panic. At the dame time the music picks up to a very fast beat which is parallel to what is happening on screen. This soundtrack again stays the same until we see a door opening which is when the music stops and another diagetic sound is introduced of a women saying "James?" It then goes silent and into the title which shows up with the sound of a sombre 'Bang' indicated that it is a dark and serious movie which could link into the crime thriller genre.

Mise-En-Scene-

Costume- The only costume we see is the mans suit while he is getting ready throughout the whole clip, we mainly see his tie, shirt and trousers which could indicate a very important job or a job interview, linking in with the title- The Candidate, that he is going to.

Lighting- Nearly all of the lighting in the clip is ambient lighting, which indicates the location of a home, the opening clip of the man in the bathroom is fairly low lighting with blue/grey tones, which could indicate him being guilty for committing a murder, especially as he is washing blood off of his hands. When the clip is then moved into a bedroom the lighting is much high lighting with warmer tones, this could show him covering up his tracks getting ready for the day as if nothing has happened, it could also show that it might be early in the morning with the warm tones representing sunrise.

Location- This can be established by the lighting showing he is in a home (See Lighting above)

Props- Mainly his only props throughout are the mans costume pieces which fits the whole opening sequence together of him getting ready, however towards the end we see a clean gun and a passport, this could almost secure with the audience he has committed a murder or he will, it could also indicate him being in a possible private police investigation team, nevertheless that is probably unlikely.

In my opening from what I have seen in the opening sequence i would class this film as a crime thriller as it involves possible murder, shown through the detail in the camerawork and props (Gun/Passport), it is also very fast paced meaning it could have some conventions o an action thriller through the editing and the sound.


Marking This work:
From looking at the marking critera of this unit i would mark this piece of work as a Top mark level 3.
My reasoning for this is that it shows a lot of the technical skills within the work, it conveys meaning and clearly shows the genre of the opening sequence.